India's petroleum self-sufficiency at its lowest since 2011

For the month of April, this percentage fell further to 16.6%

India’s petroleum self-sufficiency fell to 17.9 per cent of the total consumption in the last financial year — lowest since 2011, according to data available with Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

Self-sufficiency percentage is calculated using the total production from indigenous crude and condensate and the total petroleum consumption of the country. For April, this fell further to 16.6 per cent; in the same month last year, it was 17.9 per cent. 

India’s fast-growing demand for petroleum products has a major reason for this fall in self-sufficiency. 

According to the PPAC data, in the last financial year, India’s total consumption was at 194.2 million tonnes. Total production from indigenous crude and condensate was 34.8 million tonnes. 

Since 2011-12, when India consumed 148 million tonnes of oil, consumption has grown pretty fast. Indigenous production, however, has fallen. In 2011-12, it was 35.6 million tonnes. 

The PPAC report said, “Total crude oil processed in April 2017 was 20 million tonne, a marginal decrease of 0.8 per cent over April 2016. There was a decrease of 4.5 per cent in indigenous crude oil processed over April 2016.” 

Consumption of petroleum products — LPG, naptha, petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, and pet coke — continued to have a healthy growth at 3.3 per cent in April 2017.

The consumption growth rate was 10.3 per cent in April 2016. Lower growth rates could also be attributed to a high base effect.

For 2016-2017, the country’s total gross petroleum import, inclusive of crude and petroleum, oil and lubricants, was at $80.8 billion. 

PPAC expects the import bill of crude oil alone to increase by 26 per cent from $70 billion in 2016·17 to $88 billion in 2017·18 considering the Indian basket crude oil price of $55/bbl and $65/bbl for the balance part of the financial year.